Blossom
by StoryBard
Summary: Naruto takes the first approach to friendship. After Chuunin Exams, AU/AR Gender flipped.


**Title**: Blossom

**Author**: LadySable(LJ)/StoryBard(FF net)

**Pairings**: some Fem!Naruto X Fem!Gaara...if you're looking for it.

**Rating**: K+

**Word Count**: 1,546

**WARNING**: Everyone flipped their gender and didn't bother changing their names. Fluff-ish...? Shoujo-Ai/Girl's Love if you're looking for it. Un-betaed

**Disclaimer**: Everything belongs to Kishimoto. I do not make money from this fan made work.

**Summary**: Naruto takes the first approach to friendship.

**A/N**: No names were changed in the making of this fanfiction.

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><p><strong>Blossom<strong>

"Are you sure it has red and green petals spotted with orange and blue? Did you just make it up to annoy me, and lead me on a wild goose chase?" Sasuke asked, her hands on her hips.

"No! I really saw it! This lady was giving it to another lady, saying that the flower represented their 'blossoming friendship!' It was really pretty, and when I asked her, she said she found it in the forest outside of Konoha-Ow!" Naruto cried out as Sasuke bopped her on the head. "What was that for?"

"You idiot!" she yelled. "Do you even know how big this forest is? Couldn't you have asked for a more accurate place to find it?"

"I _tried_, but the lady said that only if your heart was pure in the giving of it, it would appear." Naruto paused, and said, "Huh, that sounds like something Haku would say."

Sasuke rolled her eyes, "Who on earth were you planning on giving this flower to, anyway? Not Sakura, right? He's just going to turn around and give it to me, you know."

"Not Sakura," Naruto said, sticking her tongue out at Sasuke. "Besides, the lady said that it was supposed to represent blossoming friendship," she added, eyes shining.

"You already have a group of friends, which one do you want to 'blossom' with?"

"You can never have too many friends," Naruto said, jabbing a finger in Sasuke's direction.

"You still haven't answered my question," Sasuke said, as she watched Naruto dig through the grass folio, the blond, spiky hair the only thing she saw of her.

"'Cause it's _personal_," Naruto said, getting up off the ground. She pulled on one of her short pigtails, thinking as she looked around the forest. "Where is that darn flower?"

Sasuke frowned, "Who is this person? You've always told me everything about you, even stuff I didn't want to know, ever. So why's this person so special that you can't even tell me who it is?"

Naruto smirked at her, "You'd be mad, considering she whooped your butt."

"No one's ever, _ever_ kicked my butt," Sasuke said, grabbing the front of Naruto's orange jumpsuit. "No one is stronger than I am in Konoha, not even the boys."

Naruto snickered. "I didn't say she was from Konoha..." her voice drifted off as her eyes wandered past Sasuke. Then she yelled, "There it is!" causing Sasuke to release her grip on the jumpsuit as she tried to placate her ringing ears.

Naruto ran up to the flower, and pounced on it, as if it was a cricket that would hop away before she grabbed it. She opened her hands, and grinned at the flower with its layers of color, and little spots that created designs like the stars in the sky.

"What an ugly flower," Sasuke said from above Naruto.

"Says you," Naruto muttered, mesmerized by the flower. She got out the special scissors from her ikebana class, and snipped the flower at an angle, holding it with care as she placed the scissors back into her pocket.

"It's perfect," she breathed as she held it up to the sun. "I might have to transplant one into my garden."

"Ruining the aesthetic appeal of your already messy apartment," Sasuke said.

She ignored Sasuke, and went to the nearest tree, running up it until she got to the top. She looked around before spying the Hokage tower. Then she dropped down to a sturdier branch, and headed back to Konoha.

"Naruto, you weren't planning to leave me back there all alone, were you?" Sasuke asked, running next to her, smirking.

"What? Does the Great Sasuke, the strongest person, nay, the Greatest Ninja in the village, need a bodyguard through the Peaceful Forest?" Naruto asked, sarcasm oozing from her voice.

She dodged the kunai Sasuke threw at her. "Not at all," she hissed. "Besides, it's more like you need a bodyguard. I'm just following you because I want to see who this person is."

"What, the Great Sasuke has not figured it out yet?" Naruto asked, snickering. Then she tripped, falling face flat into a tree limb. "Ow," she said, rubbing her noise.

"Wow, for a ninja, you sure are clumsy, Naruto," Sasuke said, standing above her.

"Jerk! You tripped me up!"

"Maybe," she said, smirking.

Naruto glared at her, and did quick signs, creating two clones. "Get her!" she commanded them.

"What, you can't take me on yourself?" Sasuke taunted as she dodged the clone Naruto's attack.

"Nope," Naruto smiled. "I have a flower to deliver," she said, before running off, laughing.

She made it back to Konoha with no signs of Sasuke following her. She chuckled, the clones weren't supposed to harm Sasuke, just distract her, and slow her down.

She looked down at the road from her spot on the roof, and smiled when she saw Sakura. Naruto ran across the roof until she got to a spot where she'd be able to jump down in front of him.

"Sakura!" she yelled, jumping in front of the boy.

"Naruto!" he yelled, jumping. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked her, looking around.

"Scaring you," she said, folding her hands back behind her head, grinning at the pink haired boy.

"There better be a good reason for scaring me," Sakura said, glowering at her.

Naruto paused, "...There was...Oh! Right, um," she held out the flower.

"Not another flower, Naruto," Sakura groaned. "Boys don't like flowers."

"You do," Naruto said. "I've seen you at Ino's, looking at all the pretty flowers, and who said it was for you?"

"Shhh," Sakura hissed, looking around, making sure no one had heard. Then he frowned, "What do you mean, it's not for me? Then who's it for?"

"A friend," Naruto said, grinning. "Do you know where the Suna Embassy's at?"

"The Suna Embassy? They'd be close to the Hokage tower, to the east of it," he said.

"Thanks, Sakura! Hey, you want to go get some ramen later?"

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "My mom's going to kill me if I don't eat at home tonight."

"Okay," Naruto said, smiling. "Gotta' go, Sakura!"

She jumped up onto the roofs, and headed towards the Suna Embassy, trying not to let Sakura's rejection hit her too hard. It wasn't like it was the first time he rejected her.

It didn't take her long to get to the Suna Embassy. She grinned as she jumped down from the roof, spying the person she'd been looking for.

"Gaara!" she yelled, waving at the girl whose back was facing her.

The head turned, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Gaara," Naruto said, laughing. "Just Naruto. It sounds silly if you say Uzumaki before it."

Gaara gave her a strange look, and said, "Naruto," as if experimenting with the word. Her sea-foam eyes were locked onto Naruto's cerulean ones, the gaze was familiar, and it took her a moment to realize that it was similar to the look she sometimes had. A fear of rejection and hurt that came from someone that was important to you; that knowledge that they held your heart, and could crush it with just one word. "Do you want revenge for what I did?" she asked, her voice calm, belying the turmoil in her eyes.

"Revenge?" Naruto asked, frowning. "No...Do you?"

"No, but why else would you search me out?" she asked, uncertainty lacing through her voice.

"Because I wanted to give you this!" Naruto said, grinning, holding out the flower to Gaara.

Gaara looked at the flower, then looked up at Naruto, "You said you didn't want revenge?"

"Yeah?" she said, cocking her head to the right in confusion. "A lady said this flower meant 'blossoming friendship.'"

"It's a poisonous flower. You didn't stick it in you mouth, did you?" Gaara asked, watching as the flower drifted down to the ground from Naruto's hand, shock etched on her tan face.

"N-No way. They said it was friendship, those lying jerks!" Naruto yelled, kicking up dust on the road.

"Naruto," Gaara said, concerned. "Did you put the flower in your mouth?"

"No," she said, grinning. Then she looked down at her hands, "But I better wash my hands." She paused, and then glanced over at Gaara. "Um," she said, hesitant. "Would you like to go eat ramen with me?"

"Yes."

Naruto paused at the simple, but quickly given affirmative. Then she grinned. "Yeah! Wait just a sec, and I'll take you to my favorite ramen stand! They have the best ramen in the world, and it's so good! Be right back!"

Naruto was back in a moment, drying her hands on her pants.

"Let's go!" she said, intertwining her arm in Gaara's, forcing the red head to keep next to her.

"You know, I should've just gotten a flower from my garden. At least I know those ones aren't poisonous," Naruto said as they headed down the street.

"You have a garden?"

"Yeah! You want to come and see it after eating some ramen?"

Gaara nodded. Naruto smiled at her, and started chattering about Konoha, the evil cat that seemed like an initiation ritual for each ninja, and the more interesting missions she'd gone on as they headed towards Ichiraku's, arms linked together.

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><p>AN:

I've always wondered how writers could forget they'd written something. The rough draft of this story has been on my computer since August. Oops.

I kind of got inspiration for this from Kosmonauttihai's gender bent drawings of Gaara and Naruto. If you'd like more GaaNaru-ness, she has a bunch of drawings of the two in their canon gender, and a couple bent-gendered. There's a link to her deviantart on my profile, if you have time to check them out. (My drivel does not live up to her drawings, so you really should check them out. ^_^)

Ikebana is a type of flower arrangement in Japan, if you're curious and didn't know.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

P.S. If you're curious, I just made up the flower.


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